Article display package and method for constructing same



Jan. 9, 1968 K. GANT ETAL 3,362,529

ARTICLE DISPLAY PACKAGE AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING SAME Filed Sept. 1, 1965 :6 l6 +-3 IZ/ FIG. 2

54 25 I8 28 52 1 l 7/ gv 44 .4 I

INVENTOR. I RICHARD S.WIMBISH KENNETH GANT United States Patent 3,362,529 ARTICLE DISPLAY PACKAGE AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING SAME Kenneth Gant, 1110 E. Willowbrook Drive, Burlington, N.C. 27215, and Richard S. Wimbish, 766 N. South St., Mount Airy, N.C. 27030 Filed Sept. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 484,182 7 Claims. ((11. 206-45.34)

This invention relates to a display package or container for holding articles of wearing accessories, such as ties, socks, handkerchiefs, and other foldable articles of wearing apparel, and more particularly to an article display package possessing a unique closure assembly and the method for packaging articles of wearing apparel using this particularly constructed container.

I-leretofore display devices or containers, with or without merchandise, have either been wrapped in paper or other materials or have been constructed by utilizing one and two-piece boxes both of which require the application of laborious and time-consuming packaging techniques. These operations conventionally demand that the article for packaging be deposited within one portion of a two-piececontainer and then the second or cover portion be subsequently attached manually and then secured against disassembly by means of glue, tape or other similar devices. Assembling an article within a pro-formed container requires placing that article in a section of the container and then meticulously attaching the top, usually partially constructed of transparent material to display the contained garment, onto the lower or base portion which is rather difiicult and tedious since it requires the individual controlling such an operation to particularly align the top with the base portion to allow smooth reception of the base within the top. Sealing or securing closing the packaged article then requires a separate manual operation thus involving the use of additional personnel.

Frequently a manufacturer or jobber individually mails large numbers of such display devices as advertising for his goods with the object of procuring orders for his goods or to place his products with small retailers. Hence, the cost of either wrapping paper or of the labor involved in making up the individual carton packages has been a serious drawback.

In order to improve the quality of article display packages and to eliminate the high labor costs involved in making up the individual display packages from conventionally constructed carton camponents, it has been found desirable to construct a display package which can be easily and economically formed of a body portion and a display top, and to design these components in a manner that will allow them to be quickly engaged one within the other and become interlocked upon such engagement so that the sealing and closing operations are no longer necessary. Additionally, this particular construction avoids the tedious alignment normally required in conventional packaging operations since the top is urged directly into the bottom body portion by merely exerting a sufiicient amount of force to attain this mating.

The particular method involved in forming a display package herein disclosed allows that packaging be assembled in a period of time heretofore unattainable by conventional packaging techniques.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a display package wherein the top and body portion thereof cooperatively mate to interlock the displayed article neatly and appealingly therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a display package of this character that will eliminate the expense of subjecting the assembled package to a sealing or se- Patented Jan. 9, 1968 curing operation in order to maintain that package in the assembled position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for constructing a display package about an article that will eliminate the time-consuming operation heretofore required in conventional display package assembly.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a display package of the character described for holding wearing accessories placed therein so that these accessories will be held orderly and in a folded smooth condition, for ready and easy access, to be selectively acquired with dispatch.

Still a further object of the invention is the provision of a case of this character wherein the top and body portions eifect separate trays for the holding of wearing articles, such as ties, socks, handkerchiefs or other light and small articles of wearing apparel, these being held smooth and pressed, as well as being in an orderly arrangement within the case to be conveniently located by a subsequent user.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a display package of this character which is simple in construction, thoroughly reliable and effective in the purposes intended, strong, durable, neat and attractive in appearance, light in weight, susceptible of being conveniently stored in the least possible space, and inexpensive to manufacture.

Yet still another object of the invention is to provide a method of packaging articles for display which eliminates the conventional alignment operation required in order to accurately and effectively position a top over the article contained body portion.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an article display package having a body portion of unitary and foldable construction which is readily obtainable from conventional stamping operations.

Yet still a further object of the present invention is to provide a unique transparent blister top for a display package which is formed from conventional plastic molding operations.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the body portion of the display package illustrating the upstanding end members and the integral foldable flaps extending therefrom, two of those flaps being in the unfolded position and one of the visible flaps being folded substantially inwardly and downwardly within the body portion for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an empty assembled display package showing the nesting of the transparent display top within the body portion and the manner in which the foldable flaps are juxtaposed along the upstanding side members;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the intermating of the upstanding side and integral foldable flap members with the display top and the extending ridge or flange connected thereto taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the body portion of the display package is constructed showing the joined side members and their attached foldable flaps in a partially folded, flat condition for storage;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the partially joined and folded body portion blank illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the assembled body portion of the display package illustrating by the use of 3 directional arrows the foldable movement of at least two of the end or side members and their integral foldable flaps to fabricate the body portion; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an assembled article display package having an article contained therein and embodying an alternative embodiment of the transparent display top which is designed to accommodate two individually packaged articles of display.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 2, there is generally designated an article display package 10 having a base portion generally designated 12 constructed of a single precut blank 14 which is folded to create substantially upstanding side members 16, 18, 20 and 22. These side members may be positioned to form any geometrical configuration and are shown in FIG. 2 as one embodiment of the present invention to define opposing ends and sides of a generally rectangular base portion. Foldably integral along indented lines 25 with the side and end members are flaps 24, 26, 28 and 30 which are tapered at their respective ends 32 and 34, 36 and 38, 40 and 42, and 44 and 46. The upstanding side members 16, 18, 20 and 22 are secured together by means of preformed tabs 48, 50, 52 and 54 so that the sides will be rigidly maintained in an upward position to form a box or body portion. It is apparent from FIG. 4 that the precut body portion 14 may be assembled and yet maintained in a substantially flat configuration prior to packaging so that these body portions may be stored until they are needed.

When the body portion 14 is erected (FIG. 6, see arrows) from the substantially flat storage position illustrated in FIG. 4, side members 18 and 22 are pivoted upwardly from the substantially flat position to an upstanding position thus developing the side members and integrally attached folding flaps to a packaging position for subsequently receiving the display top which operation will be described later in greater detail.

A transparent display top generally designated 56 is formed by a conventional plastic or cellulosic molding process and comprises a cavity-forming blister 58 susceptible to a wide variety of geometric shapes depending upon the particular mold used in its development. Along the open edge 60 of blister 58, an outwardly extending flange of ridge 62 integrally rims the perimeter of the blister edge 60 and is preferably continuous therearound. This continuous ridge or flange is also beneficial in adding substantially to the rigidity of the top 56 since its particular use in the formulation of a display package as will be described in detail subsequently requires a rather substantially constructed shell.

The display top 56 can be constructed in a variety of designs and an alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 7 and generally designated 64 which is pre-formed to accommodate separately two items within individually shaped compartments 66 and 67 for display within the finally constructed display package. It is obvious that three, four or more such compartments can be blister-formed to accommodate a greater number of items within the final package. Equally obvious is the fact that the blisters can be formed in a circular, elliptical, triangular or other geometrical shapes as can be the body portion 12 so that a wide variety of packages are available for particular customer use.

In assembling the final package and a contained article therein, attention is directed to foldable flap 30 and its coaction with continuous ridge or flange 62 as particularly illustrated in FIG. 3. As top 56 is forceably urged within body portion 12, ridge or flange 62 slidably engages foldable flap 30 and urges it downwardly and inwardly within body portion 12 to a substantially greater extent that its inward and downward position while in a relaxed or nonridge engaging position. As the display top 56 is urged continuously into the body portion 12 of display package 10, it eventually becomes disengaged from slidable contact with flap 30 along flange 62. When this disengagement occurs, flap 30 is then returned to its normal inwardly and downwardly disposed position within body portion 12 to the extent that it is able, however, the side portion 68 of the display top 56 will become a limitation since flap 30 cannot arise beyond its contact point 69 with the side 68. Should display top 56 be lifted in an attempt to remove it from body portion 12, flange 56 will be directly contacted by the edge 70 of flap 30 to act as a stop and resist further removal of the display top from the body portion of the package.

As a practical matter, the construction of a display package of the nature described containing a compressible article such as those items of wearing apparel heretofore mentioned, utilizes a common principle to effectively produce a final article contained display package of infinite variety and practical application. Since a fabric embodying article is, to a certain extent, compressible; when the display top 56 is forceably urged within the body portion 12 of display package 10, the contained fabric article is compressed in thickness to accommodate the reduction of space caused by moving the body portion toward the display top. As substances under compression have a tendency to return their relaxed configuration when that pressure is removed, once the display top 56 has been extended or nested within the body portion 12 to the extent that flange or ridge 62 has become slidably disengaged from flap 30, the force urging the top portion within the body portion is removed and the partially compressed article within the package is then free to return to its relaxed condition barring any resistive action created by the weight of either of the confining structures, namely, the top 56 or the body portion 12. Since the blister top is of extremely light weight, it is easily urged outwardly from the body portion by the expanding force of the partially compressed article therein, and this outward movement of the top continues until the edge 70 of flap 30 directly contacts flange or ridge 62 and resists any further outward movement of the top 56. Thus, by the very characteristics of the packaged article, the display package is neatly and compactly constructed to provide an essentially rattle-free and reasonably tight container for whatever article is contained therein. The fact that the top can slidably move within the body portion at least until flange 62 engages directly edge 70 of flap 30 does give the finally constructed package some degree of shiftability in that the top will move within those limits defined by edge 70 and the bottom 72 of body portion 12.

The presently described display package is susceptible to a novel and heretofore unknown method or process of package construction because of the interrelationship and coaction between the foldable flaps 24, 2-6, 28 and 30 and the continuous ridge or flange 62 integral with the blister 58 of top 56. This unique and heretofore unknown process comprises the steps of disposing a display top 56 in an inverted or cavity-exposed position so that a prefolded or shaped article for packaging can be expeditiously positioned within that cavity. It is customary to place these display tops in an inverted position along a moving conveyor belt so that an operator can then quickly deposit the article for packaging within the cavity opening as the inverted tops pass by. As a second step, a second or subsequent operator will then dispose or position a body portion 12 of package 10 in an upside down or display top-receiving position over the article and its blister container without any particular alignment or feeling operation being necessary. Once the body portion is generally engaging the display top, it is simply forceably urged downwardly to engulf or encompass the covered article and its display top so that the flange or ridge 62 secured to and integral with the display top slidably engages the numerous foldable flaps 24, 26, 28 and 30 as above described. The body portion is continually urged downwardly until ridge 62 becomes disengaged with the various flaps and the contained article is at least partially compressed between the display top and the bottom 72 of the body portion of the package. Only a few operations are necessary until the operator becomes skilled at hearing or feeling this disengagement since the flaps will spring back to engage the side 68 of the blister of the display top at contact point 69. Once this disengagement has been accomplished, the body portion is released completely by the operator, and the force exerted by the expansion of the partially compressed package article will urge the top 56 upwardly until the ridge or flange 62 becomes directly engaged with the edges of the various flaps as described particularly in FIG. 3 for the edge 70 of flap 30. The result is a slightly shiftable top held within a body portion, both components coacting to produce a neat and reliable display package holding an article within.

There is no intention to limit the package herein described to those fabric articles which are susceptible to at least partial compression though these particular articles do provide the best results because of their characteristics. It is, of course, obvious that any article of appropriate size and shape can be neatly packaged within the display package above-described so long as the article is of a width that will allow flange 62 to become slidably disengaged with the edge of the various flaps such as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The method for assembling an article within the package above-described, because of the elimination of the former requirements for aligning a top to slidably encompass a body portion, provides great savings in time and effort in the construction of packages of this nature. Because the top 56 is made of a plastic or cellulosic material and is, by its very characteristics, extremely pliable and flexible, it can easily be pinched or distorted to cause ridge or flange 62 to retract away from the various flaps and be removed from the body portion of the package without any damage or destruction to the top member. This offers the obvious advantage of reusing the initially fabricated display packages a number of times and affords considerable savings in labor and production in this regard.

Obviously, many modifications and variations may be made in the construction and arrangements of the body portion including the side members and integrally foldable flaps as well as the display top and its integrally projecting flange or ridge as well as the other phases of the present inventive concept in light of the above teachings without departing from the real spirit and purpose of this invention. Such modifications of parts and alternatives as well as the use of mechanical equivalents to those herein illustrated and described are reasonably included and modifications are contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A display package for housing compressible prod ucts comprising: an upwardly opening body portion having a plurality of side members, said members having flaps foldably connected thereto, said flaps being foldable inwardly and downwardly to fit within said body portion; and a display top haivng a plurality of outwardly extending flanges, said top being cooperatively received by said body portion and said flaps and said flanges operably maintaining said display top in a variable display posi tion responsive to the compressibility of the product contained therein.

2. A display package for housing compressible products comprising: a body portion having four substantially upstanding side members and tapering flaps foldably integral with said side members, said flaps having a smallor width than the Width of said members and being foldable inwardly and downwardly to fit within said body portion in juxtaposition with said members; and a top portion having a transparent blister cavity and outwardly extending side flanges integral with said blister cavity positioned to slidably engage said flaps and serving to align said top portion with said body portion as said top portion is received therein, said flanges coacting with said flaps when said top portion is received within said body portion maintaining said top portion in a shiftable display position responsive to the compressibility of the products contained therein.

3. A display package for housing compressible products comprising: a body portion having substantially upstanding side members and flaps foldably integral with said side members, said flaps having a smaller width than the width of said members and being foldable inwardly and downwardly to fit within said body portion; and a display top having outwardly extending side flanges c0- operatively received within said body portion, said flanges coacting with said flaps and maintaining said top in a shiftable display position responsive to the compressibility of the product contained therein.

4. A display package comprising: a body portion having substantially upstanding end and side members, and flaps foldably integral with said members, said flaps having a smaller width than the width of said end and side members, being foldable inwardly and downwardly to fit within said body portion and tapering to matably fold within said body portion; and a display top having a transparent blister cavity and outwardly extending side flanges integral with said blister cavity, said top being cooperatively received within said body portion, said flanges coacting with said flaps and maintaining said top in a shiftable display position.

5. A display package for housing compressible products comprising: an upwardly opening body portion including a plurality of side members, said members having flaps foldably connected thereto, said flaps having a smaller width than the width of said side members and being tapered and freely toldable inwardly and downwardly to fit within said body portion; and a display top having a blister cavity and a continuous outwardly extending ridge integral therewith, said top being cooperatively received by said body portion and flaps coacting with said ridge and maintaining said display top in a shiftable display position responsive to the compressibility of the product contained therein.

6. A display package for housing compressible products comprising: an upwardly opening body portion having a plurality of side members; and a display top hav ing a plurality of outwardly extending flanges integral therewith, said top being cooperatively received by said body portion and said members having foldably integral flaps of a width less than the width of said members for operatively engaging said flanges and maintaining said display top in a shiftable display position which is reslponsive to the compressibility of the products contained t erein.

7. A display package for housing compressible products comprising: an upwardly opening body portion having a plurality of side members, said members having flaps foldably connected thereto, said flaps being toldable inwardly and downwardly to fit within said body portion proximate the carried products; and a display top including flap engaging means integral therewith, said top being cooperatively received by said body portion, said flaps coacting with said means and maintaining said display top in a variable display position which is responsive to the compressibility of the products contained therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,452,100 4/ 1923 Wheildon 206-835 2,980,240 4/1961 Amatel 206-45.14 3,255,870 6/1966 Peck 20645.34

FOREIGN PATENTS 375,694 6/1932 Great Britain.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. A DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR HOUSING COMPRESSIBLE PRODUCTS COMPRISING: AN UPWARDLY OPENING BODY PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF SIDE MEMBERS, SAID MEMBERS HAVING FLAPS FOLDABLY CONNECTED THERETO, SAID FLAPS BEING FOLDABLE INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY TO FIT WITHIN SAID BODY PORTION; AND A DISPLAY TOP HAVING A PLURALITY OF OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGES, SAID TOP BEING COOPERATIVELY RECEIVED BY SAID 